


ghosts aren't always wise

by Starful_nights



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: Blood, Gen, Nonbinary Fun Ghoul (Danger Days), Nonbinary Party Poison (Danger Days), Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, ghost!ghoul, ghoul crashes a car, i mean. kind of?, it's basically an alternate way the other three meet ghoul but g h o s t s, no beta we die like the fab four, not t o o much but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26067289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starful_nights/pseuds/Starful_nights
Summary: ghoul is a ghost. xe's a very annoying ghost.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 10





	1. sometimes idiotic ghosts show up in your house and that's okay

**Author's Note:**

> i have come to the conclusion that the ending i wrote for this in a middle-of-the-night haze while fighting to just shove a finish on to it before the battery died isn't good at,,,all,, so anyways here's the first half of this second part as soon as i am capable of writing words again
> 
> pronouns:
> 
> party poison: they/them  
> kobra kid: he/him  
> jet star: he/him  
> fun ghoul: xe/him  
> phantom kat: she/her

Kobra was standing outside and smoking when the ghost appeared in front of him. He would have been angry someone disturbed him in one of the few actually calm moments in the zones, if it wasn't a _ghost_. Still, Kobra figured a little bit of healthy rudeness wouldn't be bad.

"What d'you want?"

The ghost laughed and flickered slightly.

"I'd have expected people to be more scared of me. I _am_ a ghost, after all."

"Sorry to disappoint. Why are you here?"

It flickered again, and was suddenly covered in blood, hair slightly longer and matted.

"Save me," it croaked and was suddenly back to its previous self, clothes less full of dust than a moment ago.

"'M sorry about that. Can't seem to control it. 'M fine for now, don't worry. Can I have your name, by the way?"

"'f you tell me yours," Kobra said, one eyebrow raised.

"Fun Ghoul, at your service. Xe/him, if you please. I may be a ghost, but I'm still at least a they. I can only hear a few thoughts," xe added with a grin as xe saw Kobra's expression. 

"Uh. Sorry. My name's Kobra Ki-" he stopped as Fun Ghoul turned back into the bleeding mess from a few moments ago. His voice was hoarse as he repeated "save me" over and over, flickering and wavering, finally disappearing.

Kobra stared at the place Fun Ghoul disappeared from for a few seconds, then turned around and went inside.

"Party! Party!" there came no answer and he sighed. "Party Poison, get your ass over here, I saw a ghost!"

"You've used that one a few times. I won't do the dishes instead of you, don't even think about it!" came the muffled answer.

"Motherfucker," he muttered, striding into his sibling's room and slapping the pen out of their hand. They looked at him with contempt.

"You fucking kidding me, Kobes? Y'could've ruined it!"

"I wasn't joking."

"You- you actually saw a ghost. No jokes."

"Xe was kind of hot, too. Then xe started flickering, turned bloody and disappeared."

"Uh...explain?"

Kobra recounted the conversation to his sibling, who looked thoughtful.

"A hot ghost, you said?"

"'Stroya, Party, that's not the important part. Focus on the blood, please."

"I haven't heard of anything like this, I think. Why would a ghost, a dead spirit, say 'save me'? A side effect of his death? Is xe not dead yet? I'm gonna need some time to think. Go and get me some of that weird sticky and hard sweets I know you still have some of. You don't even like it."

"No."

"Please? I'm trying to crack the case of what sounds like the most exciting thing in your miserable, boring life yet."

"Shut up," Kobra said. "I won't give you your disgusting bribe sweets."

"I take it back," they said immediately. "You go on and pester Jet about space or something."

"I don't care about space."

"Let him ramble on a bit. It's adorable and you might even get some information in that thick skull of yours."

"Says the person who didn't even know that snow existed."

"I live in the desert, Kobra! I don't care!"

The mention of the desert reminded Kobra of the dusty, bloody version of Fun Ghoul and shook his head in defeat.

"You get off this time, as long as you focus on the ghost problem."

"Okay. Xe appears again, you run to me, deal?"

"Deal."

# _____________

Fun Ghoul didn't appear again until next morning, this time in Kobra's bedroom, waking him up with some loud, strange sound that sounded like a car. Not the Trans Am, though, he knew its sound. This was different and much, much louder.

"Party, what the fuck?” 

“Oh. You’re awake. Great. You need to help me.”

“Oh. It’s you. How can _I_ help _you?_ You’re a ghost. Also you woke me up.”

“Would you not help a very handsome, funny and generally amazing ghost?”

“No,” Kobra said and turned over. He could still feel Fun Ghoul’s presence behind him. After a few minutes he sighed.

“What do you want?”

“Introduce me to the others. I need friends.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Being a ghost is lonely, y’know.”

"Fine. On one condition.”

“Yes?”

“You wake Party up. Very rudely.”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” he grinned. “They’ll be delighted an actual ghost woke them up.”

“‘F you say so…”

“And, Fun Ghoul?”

“Yeah? And just call me Ghoul, please.”

“Don’t just come in like this again. I hate being woken up.”

Xe grinned and flickered for the fraction of a second before walking through the closed door.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

# _____________

By the time Kobra managed to stumble out of his room Jet and Party were already awake, glaring at him. His sibling's hair was soaked and Jet had glitter on his face.

"Kobra."

"Yes, Party?" he asked, voice taking on a false cheery tone. 

"Why did you tell him to wake me up?"

"Thought it'd be a nice surprise."

"Fucker."

"You actually have a chance to be woken up by a real ghost and you call the person who arranged it a fucker? That's low."

"Xe poured water over my head!"

"It needed a wash, anyway."

“Fuck. Off.”

Kobra ignored them and turned toward Ghoul.

“Did you wake Jet up, too?”

“...maybe.”

“Shit, Jet, I’m sorry. This bastard apparently doesn’t understand what names are for.”

“How was I supposed to know which was which?”

“The big sign on the door saying ‘Party Poison’?”

“Oh.”

“Wait, can you read?” he asked, feeling suddenly bad. Who knows how long xe has been a ghost for.

“Yeah. Not whatever messy, dripping writing that’s there, though.”

“Oi. You appear here and think you can just criticise my handwriting?” Party says. “Who even _are_ you?”

“Fun Ghoul, your majesty,” xe said with an exaggerated bow. “I don’t know how much y’r brother has said ‘bout me but I use xe/him and I’m a very funny person.”

“No, you aren’t. You poured water over my head. The only thing stopping me from hating you is the fact that you’re a ghost and if I stay on your good side you might let me expe- ask you questions.”

“Uh. Ok. You might. Later. Maybe. Anyway, I would like to say that I’m slightly sorry, Jet, but also not really b'cause your hair looks so much better with glitter.”

“Oh my god, Kobra, why is your ghost so _rude_?”

“Xe’s not _mine_. Please introduce yourselves properly, you two. Xe did it, after all.”

“Name, pronouns, I’m funny isn’t a proper introduction,” Party huffed but didn't argue. “I’m Party Poison, _if you haven’t guessed yet,_ my pronouns are they/them and I will find a way to make you feel cold water. Or better, chili.” 

Jet sighed. “I’m Jet star. He/him. Please don’t pour glitter in my hair again. You can do it to Show Pony though, I think ae might even appreciate it.”

“First of all, your hair looks even more like stars now, with all the purple and the glitter and whatnot. Positively spacey. And you know. Jet _Star_. Second, this Show Pony. Who is ae, and when may I meet aem? I might actually end up knowing someone who isn’t boring!”

“Fucker,” Kobra said and started eating. This blissful moment of mildly-horrible tasting food with at least one, but probably two pairs of eyes burning into the back of his head lasted for about thirty seconds before Ghoul interrupted by collapsing into his dusty, bleeding state again.

“Okay, Kobra, when you mentioned the bleeding, I didn't think it would be _this_ disturbing,” Jet said after a few seconds of him glitching between the two, then disappearing only to return, voice a croak even when talking in the ‘usual’ form, apparently saying a joke. Party seemed lost in thought.

“Why...why would that be the message?” they muttered. “It makes no sense…” They were so absorbed in thought they didn’t even notice Ghoul being back to normal.

“Yoo-hoo, person with drenched, red hair? I’m right here, you know.”

“Oh my god, Kobra, get rid of him.”

“I’m not his...I don’t know. I can't control him, that’s my point.”

“Wait, how did you die?”

“Party-” Kobra figured that asking someone how they died wasn’t polite, but it was probably too late.

Ghoul faltered for a moment, his cheerful demeanour disappearing.

“I- I don’t know. Uh.”

“Oh. I thought that might help us figure out why you keep-”

“Keep wh- oh, the flickering? Probably normal. My consciousness disappears for a few moments but I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Oh," Party said. Apparently xe wasn't aware of those moments. "That's…uh. Okay. That makes things more complicated."


	2. experiments on your friends are generally frowned upon, party poison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i keep taking this apart into more small chapters but i have the ending now i promise

Ghoul slowly became a part of life at the diner during the next few days. The glitches were rare, happening maybe once or twice a day, and xe seemed very cheerful for someone whose consciousness regularly disappeared. Party stayed up until way too late, trying to figure Ghoul's type of ghost out with no success, and after having chili shoved through him, Ghoul stopped waking them up. Jet got the glitter out of his hair and introduced Ghoul to Show Pony, who got along like a house on fire, much to the headaches of the others. And, of course, his personal goal was still annoying Kobra as much as xe could.

About a week after Ghoul appeared Kobra came back to the diner, hands full of food, to Party throwing objects through Ghoul again. 

"What are you _doing_ , Party?"

"Experiment."

"Why?"

"To find out what kind of ghost xe is. You know, the same thing as why I haven't slept properly in a week."

"Wait, aren't ghosts supposed to just be not interactive?"

"That isn't the case here, as you've seen. Apparently if xe holds the objects, xe can do things with them. But when just thrown through…" They threw a few more things at him, then let out a triumphant cry when xe caught one of them.

"Yes?" he prompted.

"Xe can feel it, but won't be able to interact, _unless_ xe consciously interacts!"

"And what does that mean?"

"Possibly poltergeist, or some kind of rare once-human. Not the maskless kind, but maybe combined with some kind of changing magic while alive or dead might cause this...I gotta go." They sprinted out of the room to the enormous pile of ghost notes from old books they borrowed that were covering every surface in their room, leaving Ghoul and Kobra confused. 

"What does that even mean?"

"Um." Kobra tried to make sense of his sibling's words. "Something magical and fucked up happened to you while you were alive? Or after? Dunno."

"Well, that's just great."

"You really don't remember anything?"

"Nope. Nothing. Anyway, what food do you have? Kind of want to try what chili feels like if I consent to it being thrown at me."

Before Kobra could react to that, his sibling came back.

"Ghoul! Can you change your translucency level?"

"No. Why could I?"

They let out a growl of frustration and threw the pen in their hand down. 

"What the fuck?"

"Uh...care to explain?"

"You weren't turned into a vampire after death, _or_ had a mind connection forged within ten years before!"

"Why are you saying my dead body not being magically disfigured like it's a bad thing?"

"Because I have no clue what you are! I've hardly slept all week, I've done nothing but research, I've barely talked to anyone, all I've done is tried to figure you out, to try and realise why you keep turning bloody, why you don't remember, and yet I have nothing! _Nothing_!"

Kobra gently put his hand on their arm. 

"Party. Party. Calm down. Please. You're exhausted."

"But I need to know!"

"That can wait. Okay? You've taken care of me so many times, now it's my turn."

"I don't-" Their complaints were cut short as they were steered towards their bed, also full of notes. Kobra carefully put them on the floor and gently shoved them into the bed.

"Listen. If you sleep now and take a week to collect yourself, you'll get your mental power back and solve it quicker."

"Two days."

"Not a second less than six."

"Three?"

"Five."

"Four and a half?

"Four and a half and no more than two hours a day. We need you, Party."

"Fine."

"Now go sleep."

# _____________

"What in 'I don't want to wake up to you screaming in my face' do you not understand?" 

"I'm...not screaming? I just come in and say 'wake up'?"

"No. You make a sound like a car screeching every damn morning," Kobra sighed, propping himself up on his elbows.

"W-what?"

"Are you seriously not aware of this?"

"No?"

"Oh, Witch help me. Party!"

"Fuck off, I'm sleeping!" came the answer from the other room.

"Ghoul's making screeching sounds again!"

"You know what? I give up. I'm gonna sleep in and go to the concert and ignore the annoying ghost for as long as i can."

"Sounds like a plan." Kobra fell back onto his pillows with a thump and flipped Ghoul off sleepily.

"Wait, what concert?" the annoying ghost in question asked suspiciously.

"Sleshers. Go back to the spirit realm or something."

Ghoul's face went slack.

"You're...going to the Sleshers concert? Today?"

"I'm not going to _miss_ it if that's what you're suggesting."

"No, no, I just...I gotta go."

Kobra shrugged and turned over. He still had some time to sleep, hopefully. 

Meanwhile, Jet was shaken awake by Ghoul.

"Fuck off."

"Jet, this is important. You're the most knowledgeable 'bout the Witch here, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Party's the best at most other supernatural stuff but they don't really care about the Witch. What d'you want?"

"Let's say, totally hypothetically, that the Witch would tell you to change something about your past."

"Why would she—okay. Continue."

"And you didn't know when to change…"

"Hmm?"

"Would you change so that you're there when your friends die, possibly also dying, or would you change the time you die?"

"Ghoul, what are you talking about? Are you saying that after a month of Party driving themself insane over trying to figure you out, you're a Witch kind of ghost?"

"It's for...someone else in the spirit realm."

"Uh. I don't know. I would probably stay with my friends?"

"Something tells me I've—I mean they've—already tried that."

"Well, do the other thing, then! Simple as that!"

"I guess…"

And with that, xe vanished, leaving a very confused Jet behind who followed the Venom Siblings' example and went back to sleep for a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a bit shorter than the last one but i selected exactly 1000 words and i couldnt resist


	3. not how i expected my day to go but ok

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o o p s i split it again
> 
> i should really stop
> 
> anyways the this time really final chapter will come sometime in the next few hours or next morning depends on how awake i'll be at 3am
> 
> (this is the chapter with the car crash(offscreen) and ghoul's taken to a hospital)

"Party, you coming or not?"

"Jet Star, if you dare leave me here, I will ghost you."

"You and Kobes would die immediately without me."

"Oi!" Kobra shouted from the backseat where he managed to get tangled upside down in an effort to find a comfortable sitting position and attempted to scramble out of the window. He ended up hanging halfway out the Trans Am, flipping off everything in Jet's and Party's general direction. He didn't even notice Ghoul behind him until he put his hand through his chest. It was cold.

"Watch were y're putting that hand, Kobes! You alive people are _warm_!"

"Why're you sneaking up on me, Ghoul? 'T's rude."

"No, ‘m not staying here so your precious datefriend can destroy what’s left of my reputation," Ghoul said to nobody in particular. Nobody Kobra could see, anyway.

"Just because you're an idiot, I'm not missing the Sleshers."

"Ghoul, who're y'—".

"Kat. Whatever you do, _don't stay here_. Take my word on it just this once. Promise me. Kat, please. Promise. I—I can't let anything happen to you." 

Xe sounded close to tears and flickered again and again, the tears in one form cutting through the grime and dust on the other, mingling with the blood and sweat that bleeded over to the first in some places. Kobra tried to shout for Party, but his voice was a croak and he couldn't tear his eyes away from the horror in front of him. 

And, as abruptly as it started, it was over. 

Ghoul looked at Kobra, some of the tears and blood still on his face, and pretended to not be as shaken up as xe really was. 

"Have fun at the concert, you lot. 'M afraid I can't go, and, uh, if y'see someone dressed like me, go over to them, okay?"

"What? Ghoul, why? Explain this all to me now. And slowly."

"I—I can't."

"Why?"

"Can't say."

"Fuck's sake, man—or, ghost, whatever—what _can_ you say?"

"Uh. Get going or you'll be late for the concert?"

"Shit, you're right. This isn't over, okay? Jet, Party, come _on_ or I'll leave without you! Someone get me out of this window."

# _____________

"I remember why I don't like concerts now," Party muttered, looking at the crowd. The amount of 'joys collected in one place at concerts always surprised Kobra, especially with The Sleshers. He still thought of them as the small band that was broadcasted on the small radio station of one of the members, to be honest. 

"You love concerts, Party. Don't deny it."

"Okay, I love concerts," they grinned. "Still, all these people…"

"Jet'll protect you."

"I'll fight my way through back to the Trans Am, you in my arms," he grinned. 

"Ha, ha. Get a move on. The fancy-ass squid's moving, they're about to start."

# _____________

"And that's it! Goodnight, Slesh Sluts, you fabulous fuckers!" 

Kobra started towards the exit closest to the Trans Am. Of course, him being Kobra Kid, he wasn't looking where he was going and bumped into someone with long black hair and a green-and-yellow outfit that was suspiciously familiar…

"Ghoul? What're you doing here? And why are you _solid_?"

"Who're you and why d'you know my name? Of course I'm solid, what'd you expe—" xe blinked and was immediately more translucent. "—Listen, Kobes, I don't have much time." His voice was hurried and low. "This is all convoluted and long, but the gist of it is that the Ph—"  
Suddenly he was back to whoever Kobra met a few moments ago, definitely solid.  
"—ct from an alive person? Are you okay? You're st—oenix Witch gave me a second chance and I'm sorry I didn't say earlier but I wasn't sup—aring."

"Of course I'm staring! You lied to me for a month and nearly drove my sibling to overexhaustion because you _couldn't fucking say_ it was the Witch and leave it at that! Motherfucker!" 

"—posed to. I only heard the end bit and I'm sorry. Really. Anyway, you need to li—The fuck are you on about? I've never seen you before in m'life. Also, why'd you stop mid-s—sten to me, and listen quickly. I'm gonna leave in a few minutes, and you lot need t—entence? For fuck's sake, stop staring!"

"Uh. Sorry."

"Why're you st—o go and follow me from a distance. I'll be on Route Guano when I'll crash. My ghost, that is, this me, should meld with the other me at around then. You can't s—ill staring at me like that? I've never seen you or your sibling before. I'm Fun Gh—top the crash, but you _can_ get me a medic, which might save me. You go—oul, but you seemed to know that. Y'probably know my pronouns and my life story, too. Wou—t all of that? I think xe's gonna go in a moment. Don't let him out of your sight for too long, okay?"

"Okay."

"—ldn't put it past you. Would'ya repeat that, mystery man?"

"Oh. Uh. Kobra Kid. He/him. I was thinking of a different Ghoul, I guess. Bye."

"Oh. Bye? Might go and find you later, if you don't mind. Y'seem like a cool dude, if a bit weird."

"Rude. Have you seen a red-haired kid with a guy with purple, glittery hair around here? Think they walked off without me."

"There," xe pointed to Jet and Party a bit over. "'M going the other way for now. Keep running, Mystery Man."

"K-keep running."

Kobra bolted over to his family and dragged them over to the Trans Am, ignoring their protests. 

"What's up with you, Kobes? Didn't you like the show?"

"The show was great. Ghoul's alive. Where's the closest hospital to Route Guano?"

Party swerved to a stop.

" _What?_ I did all of that for nothing? Next time I see him, I'm gonna ghost 'im!"

"That won't be necessary. Drive!"

"Why?" 

Kobra considered which of his statements he should interpret the 'why' as a reaction to. 

"Xe's getting in a car crash right about...now," he said, which summed up both nicely, he felt.

# _____________

"Ah, shit. Xe's looking bad."

"How does one crash into a fucking boulder like that?" Party asked.

"Probably the dracs' fault," Jet said, kneeling down next to him with the first-aid kit.

"Good point. Xe's a good shot, though."

"Guys." Kobra's voice had an anxious edge to it.

"What."

"Look!"

"Kobes, let me do the damn first aid! What's so important?"

"His ray gun was set to stun. Look. Up!"

"Shit. Party, cover me! I gotta finish this or xe ends up as a ghost again."

"I amend my statement. There's two instead of three."

"Kobra, shut up and help me!"

"What do you think I just did?"

The siblings managed to continue the argument while shooting the other two dracs. It was a talent of theirs. Soon, they were speeding towards the closest hospital, and Kobra felt a presence outside the car, moving with them.

"Now is not the time, Witch."

"That's no way to talk to a deity."

"Did you see the crazed state my sibling was in? I had to stop them from murdering themself by accident!"

"So you'd rather xe and what's left of his crew would be dead?"

"Xe...xe has a crew. Of course. His crew! Shit, we'll need to alert them."

# _____________

“Wow, I’m in a bad state, no wonder I died,” Ghoul said, looking xirself over.

“Oh, you're awake.”

“Who’re you?”

“Look me in the eye and tell me you were joking. Please.”

“I was, mystery man,” Ghoul grinned. “Wow, Party really loved to put chili through me, didn’t they?”

“Well, that’s a relief. Wait. You’re awake. The doc says we should alert your crew.”

“Oh. my crew. Uh. Not sure I still have one, to be honest. It was only Kat an' me and she seems to hate me now. Shit, Kat! The dracs! I gotta go check on her." Xe moved to stand up but Kobra stopped him.

“Steady, not-so-ghost-anymore. _You_ are not going anywhere. Me an’ Jet’ll go check on her as Party’s also not at their best. Why was your gun on stun?”

“Oh. Shit. Sorry.”

“Anyway, you gotta tell me what’s happened before we go check on this Kat.”

“It all started when I walked in on that filthy Neon Hill--supposed to be dating Kat, but honestly ey’ll cheat on her with anyone else--and Sunset Bomb again. It’s been going on f’r a while and ey threatened to make Kat hate me if I spill. I’ve known Kat longer so I was confident and I was tired of em doing this to me. That was, uh, five weeks ago? Then ey started convincing Kat that I was a BLI spy. The times my from-the-future self stopped them from injuries that were nearly lethal probably didn’t help, looking back. I also may or may not have exploded something at around that point.

“Then I left f’r the show an' Kat told me to never come back. The dracs came while I was away. G-ghosted all three of 'em." Xe stopped and closed his eyes for a moment, collecting xirself. 

"After that, the crash happened and the Witch offered me a second chance and put me down at y’r diner. Go check on Kat, please. She’s like a sister to me, even though she hates me. Think you know the place, it’s close to where the show was.”

“The old warehouse?”

“That’s the bitch.”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry i keep making it have more and more chapters this is the last time
> 
> anyways from now on i will have ghoul call kobra mystery man in every fic i write and provide no explanation


	4. ends and beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> probably should have kept this with the last one but 1am me has other ideas and i must respect that

"Hello, Phantom Kat? Are y'here?" The warehouse wasn't very big, and there was a lot of empty space, but the things arranged in it still gave it a sort of homely feel. Still, nobody seemed to be here.

"Who's asking?" came a voice from somewhere Kobra couldn't see and he felt the tension in his shoulders lessen. So she was alive after all..

"Um." Jet looked at Kobra for guidance. "We're Jet Star and the Kobra Kid. Ghoul's...friends?"

“Fun Ghoul doesn’t have _friends_ ,” Kat said, walking over to the two of them. Her hair was neon green and greasy, her clothes slightly torn. She looked angry but also slightly frightened.  
“Xe barely had me and then xe had to sell us out for BLI, apparently. ‘T least xe had the decency to stop the one person xe seemed to have ever cared about from dying. Dunno why xe even bothered, really. ‘S clear his heart is nonexistent.”

“Xe wasn’t a spy.”

“How else would you explain him always knowing when the ambushes came? Talking us outta claps that ghosted and near-fatally injured the other ‘joys? And only those? Hmm?”

“'joys die all the time, that’s life in the zones! The Witch--” Jet was practically shaking from anger. How could someone this close to another ‘joy turn on them so violently without any proof?

“The Witch isn’t real!” she snapped, close to tears. “Xe was a spy and xe killed them all!”

“You really believe this bullshit, don’t you?” Kobra’s voice was low and menacing, his anger barely kept boiling under the surface. “If the motherfucking Phoenix Witch materialised in front of you and told you the truth, you still wouldn’t believe it. So you know what? I’m not going to bother. Go and believe that the person who thinks of you as a sister would sell you out for Better Living. The person who is now in hospital and one of his first awake sentences was ‘go check on Kat’. I hope I never see you again.” 

And with that, he turned on his heel and walked out, Jet shooting one last look of contempt at her before following.

# _____________

“You should have let me punch her,” Jet said as they sped back towards the hospital. “She would have deserved it.”

“Trust me, I was close,” Kobra laughed bitterly. “She probably would have fought back, though. D'ya see those spikes on her rings? Would’ve hurt like a bitch. Still, ‘f I ever run into Neon Hill it’s over for em.”

“Wow, I feel so bad for Ghoul. D’you think she was always like this?”

“Dunno. I’m happy xe’s outta there, to be honest. Imagine five weeks of this bullshit directed at you.”

# _____________

“Shit, I’m sorry you had to suffer through all of that,” Ghoul grimaced once Jet recounted the trip to him. “ Um, by the way, have you guys seen a large pillow, very sequinny, in there? Think I must’ve left it there. I took most of m’ stuff with me when I left but I can’t seem to find that one pillow. It was comfy, too,” xe sighed.

“No, we didn’t, I think. Sorry.”

“Wouldn’t put it past that bitch Neon to burn it. At least I got to blow half the wall out by eir bed.”

“You did _what_?” Party asked, looking up from absentmindedly picking at the edge of the bandage on their arm, grinning. “You absolute legend.” 

“Party, you’ve seen him as a _ghost_. Probably his true, maximum-mischief form. I really expected you to not be that surprised.”

“I’m not surprised, Jet. I’m proud. Well done, Ghoulie. Gonna miss you.” Kobra’s stomach dropped at that last sentence, remembering that Ghoul wasn’t a permanent member of their group and was only here with them during his time as a ghost. Xe probably had better things to do now.

“Yeah, um, about that…” xe said, fidgeting with his raygun. “I...don’t really have anywhere else to go? And I can manage well on my own but I have to admit I’ve grown quite attached to you lot. So, what I'm really trying to say is...can I stay at the diner for a bit longer?” xe blurted out. “I can make myself useful, you two saw what I can do with explosives, ‘s my specialty, but you can say no, of course…”

“Yeah, sure,” Party said immediately. “As long as the others are fine with it, of course.”

“Fine by me, as long as you don’t get glitter in my hair gain, or you’ll be back to transparency very soon,” Jet said, smiling from ear to ear.

“I’m gonna have to get used to not being able to throw chili through you whenever,” Kobra grinned. “Welcome to the crew, Fun Ghoul.”


End file.
